The A & E department at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch is to be downgraded. The plans are part of a review by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which has to save £50 million over three years.

It would mean the most seriously injured patients will be taken by ambulance to other hospitals including the Royal Worcester and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Police have started a murder investigation after a man was attacked in Redditch.

The 50-year-old man, who has not been identified by police, was attacked in Sillins Avenue at approximately 12.25am this morning.

Officers believe he got into an argument with a group of people as he was walking home from the Kings Arms pub. He was punched and fell to the ground. He was taken to Alexandra Hospital before being transferred to the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry because of a head injury.

The man’s life support was switched off this afternoon and detectives are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the attack or has any information.

“This was a terrible attack on an innocent man which has led to him losing his life. We believe there may have been between four and six people in the group who carried out the assault. This group may have been a mixture of males and females.

“We would appeal to anyone who can shed any light on the circumstances of the attack to get in touch with us as soon as possible. We have a number of inquiries to follow up and the public’s help is vital in making sure we have a full picture of what went on”.

A hospital trust in the Midlands is paying out almost half a million pounds in compensation after what human rights lawyers have called "appalling" failures of care at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he is 'disgusted' at what he has heard. In one of the worst cases, an 86-year-old former nurse was left unwashed for 11 weeks. Her son has been speaking to our reporter Charlotte Grant.